


One Wish - Middles

by desiqtie



Series: One Wish [2]
Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Consent Issues, F/M, Implied/Referenced Sexual Assault, Psychological Torture
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2007-11-13
Updated: 2009-07-25
Packaged: 2018-01-04 06:56:35
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 8
Words: 19,039
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1077932
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/desiqtie/pseuds/desiqtie
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Under Revision. </p>
<p>AU. James & Lily had a girl not a boy. The GWL grew up with her parents, but in part II, she deals with the consequences of her 'Chosen' status while trying to manage her newfound feelings for her father's best friend. Includes: alive!Marauders/OotP Members/DEs. **This story is undergoing a rewrite!**</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. The Truth Comes Out

**Author's Note:**

> Expect updates to be few and far between as my life is crazy busy right now. This story kind of begins in the middle and will probably be told in flashback style. I think. Maybe. So far, it is definitely darker than anything else I have written but hopefully it'll become lighter and fluffier:-D
> 
> Anyways, as you know I own nothing but the plot because everything else you recognize is the work of the lovely, talented JKR and of course her and her people own it all.
> 
> Of course, that's obvious because if I'd written the story, Sirius would not be dead and Harry would be a girl because IMHO there just are not enough girl!leads in books! Lol. Anyways, I hope you like it so far and please do let me know what you don't like and what you do and what you think should be changed. Also, I really need a beta so if anyone has the time and the inclination, please PM me and let me know!

 

"Headmaster, perhaps Black's mind should be checked…after all, the Dark Lord had both him and Ms. Potter captive for 3 months. Black may well be under some compulsion or mind altering potion." Snape's cruel sneer showed his absolute delight at the thought that Sirius was responsible for the recent spate of attacks. Before any of the Order members could chime in and defend Sirius or perhaps agree with Snape, Dumbledore spoke.

"Severus, please, at least attempt to show some tact!"

"Unfortunately Minerva, I'm afraid that Severus is correct regarding the possibility of a compulsion. Sirius, you have my trust of course; however, we know for a fact the two of you were tortured. Since Maria, understandably, refuses to speak of those three months we have no other way of telling if you are under any compulsions." Ever since Maria and Sirius's capture and subsequent torture, it seemed that Albus Dumbledore's famous twinkle had permanently disappeared.

"Albus! How can you even suggest-" Lily began before she was interrupted by Sirius.

"No, Lils, I can't believe I'm saying this, but Snape's right. I can't remember a thing about those three months. All we know is about the physical torture and that's only because of Poppy's scans. I need to know what happened, I haven't asked Maria because it gets her so upset, but I need to know." With Sirius's agreement, Albus flooed Hogwart's Hospital Wing and had Poppy come over to Potter Manor. The Order members slowly settled back into their seats, while those close to Sirius gathered around him. The outrage was quite clear on the faces' of the Order members around the renegade Black heir. At the same time, the wary looks being cast his way by the seated Order members, showed the clear divide between those who trusted him and those who suspected him.

"Sirius, are you sure about this, I mean Poppy said there's a reason your mind blocked the memories out." James looked worried and Remus, Peter, and Lily were quick to chime in with their support of James' words.

"I might regret it, but I would rather know for sure that I'm not unknowingly betraying the Order." Before anyone else could attempt to dissuade Sirius again, the fire turned green and Poppy immediately stepped out. Moody, Poppy, Snape, and Dumbledore quietly began to discuss which tests should be performed on Sirius. After rejecting most of Snape's unnecessarily intrusive suggestions, the four approached the group gathered around Sirius. The three other Marauders immediately gathered to flank and surround the fourth member of their group. He gently moved the others away from him and sat down in the cushioned seat behind him.

"Sirius, we will need to restrain you as some of the tests are intrusive. Although, these so-called tests shouldn't even be occurring since you are still RECOVERING from almost certain DEATH!" Poppy's voice rose sharply as she glared at the three men beside her, the contempt clear from her expression. If her looks could kill, Severus, Albus, and Mad-Eye would have been long dead and buried.

"You're too good to me Madame Pompfrey. I mean, if everyone had a Mediwitch as, wonderful and caring as you, I doubt we'd have any sick or injured people around!" Sirius smiled charmingly at the blushing Hogwarts Mediwitch and then immediately ducked Lily's exasperated swat. He turned and flashed a grin at the smirking redhead behind him.

"Try to keep it in your pants for a few minutes, Padfoot!" Before Sirius or the others could respond to Peter's playful taunt, Snape spoke out.

"ENOUGH! We are here to see how much information Black betrayed to the Dark Lord not to watch his infantile attempts at flirting."

"Someone's jealous." James' mocking whisper caused most everyone within earshot to muffle his or her snickers.

"Yeah, but is he jealous of Poppy or Sirius?" Lily's taunting words and amused expression hid her rage at Snape for attacking the man who in her and most everyone else's eyes was responsible for Maria returning home alive.

Before the battle of words could degenerate into a battle with wands, Dumbledore waved everyone to their seats. He, Alastor, and Poppy quietly drew up chairs and began to explain to Sirius what tests would be performed.

"Poppy will be testing you again for any physical changes that may have occurred. Specifically, she's going to be looking for changes in your blood chemistry, this will allow us to better detect if you've been drugged with some sort of potion. Alastor will then be testing you for any compulsions. He is also going to give you a mild truth serum and then make sure you don't have any unusual, unexpected behavioral changes. Finally, I will be checking for any other gaps in your memory, blackouts, or other memory modification not related to the three months in Voldemort's clutches. Then, if I have your permission, I will attempt to bring back your memories of the three months in Voldemort's clutches." Poppy and those supporting Sirius looked livid at the last suggestion, they had seen how badly Sirius was injured when he was finally rescued. It made sense that the memories were so horrific that Sirius' mind had blocked them out to protect itself. Snape, on the other hand, looked utterly delighted, especially since testing for memory charms had been his suggestion. His only regret was that Albus would not allow him to break the memory charms himself. Albus and Moody were apologetic but determined, as the leaders of the Order they knew they had to think of the greater good, despite their fondness for the mischievous Black heir.

"You have my permission. Can we just, get this over with? I'm tired of discussing it." Sirius' expression was perfectly calm and placid. Internally, he was a mess; somehow he knew he would soon regret agreeing to these tests. All three nodded and slowly began their tests. Poppy ran through an entire battery of tests before finally smiling. She turned to Albus and confirmed that not only was Sirius clear of any and all potions, he was also recovering nicely from the tortures. Moody's tests were shorter but more invasive and Sirius was quite glad when his boss finished them. Moody also confirmed Sirius clean of any compulsions or abnormal behavioral changes. At first, Albus seemed to be about to also confirm Sirius clean and in the clear. But then he stopped and frowned. He slowly turned to look at first Severus, then at Poppy and Moody. Finally, he turned back to Sirius and spoke in a sad, worried voice.

"I cannot simply restore your memories of the three months." Dumbledore sighed, and slowly lowered his wand. "You've been obliviated Sirius, removing the charm will be extremely painful."

"I don't care. Remove it." Before anyone could stand up and argue with him, Sirius stood up. "NO. I want to know what the FUCK they did to me."

"Very well." Dumbledore swished his wand down and a glittering, blue light hit Sirius in the temple. He staggered back and at first it seemed to have had no effect.

"Sirius? Are you ok-" Worried, Remus moved towards his friend, but before he could finish his sentence Sirius looked up. His eyes were devoid of any emotion save horror. As, his friends, basically his family, looked on, Sirius seemed to crumble in on himself. He was completely and utterly devastated, and when he fell to his knees and buried his face in his hands no one knew what to do.

"No oh god, no no no, please no oh god!" The litany of horrified exclamations broke the heart of almost every person within earshot. James moved hand to his best friend's shoulder in a move meant to comfort Sirius. But, Sirius' reaction made it quite clear that James was no comfort to him. Sirius glanced up at James and his eyes widened in horror as he immediately stood and then with an unusually loud crack was gone.

"Is it Sirius then, is he the traitor?" Kingsley's quiet murmur seemed incredibly loud in the suddenly silent room.

"Traitor? What are you all talking about?" Immediately everyone turned to the doorway, where stood none other than the girl-who-lived, Maria Jamie Potter. A fierce, protective expression on her face she entered and surveyed the room. She had spied on enough Order meetings growing up that she was easily able to tell that every Order member but Sirius was in the room. She also knew her friends and family well enough to know they were trying to protect her from some information they felt might distress her. "Well, isn't anyone going to answer me?" Seeing that no one else was about to explain, Dumbledore quietly began to explain that the Order had decided to test Sirius for compulsions and the like in order to ensure he was not the traitor. "You did what!" The horror that spread across Maria's space was expected, but the fear was not. "Oh my God, what did you do?"

"You knew about the memory charm, didn't you." George Weasley's quiet statement caused everyone to turn to him. Even Fred looked surprised by the accusation. "Why didn't you tell anyone?"

"Of course I knew! I'm the one that-" Abruptly she broke off and turned away to compose herself. "Where is he? Where did –?" Before she could finish her questions, she was interrupted by many of the angry, worried, and scared Order members.

"You're the one that placed the memory charm on him. But why?" James' matter-of-fact statement and query caused everyone else to fall silent as they stared between father and daughter.

"You wouldn't understand. You weren't there."

"So explain it to us."

"Dad. I can't, its-he's the bravest person I know. I love him, Daddy. I always have, ever since I was a little girl. He kept me safe from those monsters. I couldn't just-" She broke off and began to cry softly.

"Maria, we broke the memory charm. I believe Sirius remembers everything now. We must know what happened if we are to help him." Maria turned to stare at Dumbledore her shock plain on her face. She slowly sank into the chair that moments before Sirius had occupied.

"Daddy, I-I need you to promise me something. I need you to promise me, you won't blame him."

"Princess-"

"No Daddy, you have to promise."

"I promise." Tears silently and slowly dripping down her face, Maria wrapped her hands around the tiny, golden locket that had been her fourteenth birthday present from Sirius. Then, slowly, haltingly, she began to explain the events of the previous summer, the summer after her fifth year.

"They tortured us, they used the cruciatus obviously. But, they also used anything and everything else they could think of, whips, chains, knives, whatever they could think of they used. They burned us, they beat us, they taunted us, and they threatened us. They would tell us that everyone we loved had been killed. They said Voldemort had won and we were going to be his personal slaves for the rest of our lives. Everyday that went by and we didn't break they grew more vicious, more desperate. Some of the other Death Eaters, not the one's in the inner circle, the others, they always stared at me, but the way they looked at me made me feel so disgusting. But, the inner circle had forbidden everyone from touching me, that way. After about two months, the inner circle Death Eaters started going out for more raids and they weren't around as often to control the minor death eaters. They would, they would-" Maria swallowed hard and bit her lip, her voice soft and sad she looked at Dumbledore, a pleading expression on her face. "Please, I just, I need to talk to Sirius."

"Finish your story Potter you can moon over the Mutt later."

"Severus! That is quite enough! Maria, I will not stop you from going after Sirius but you must first explain to us why Sirius is so upset. We cannot help him if we do not know what the problem is." She nodded slowly and wringing her hands, continued her tale.

"Um, well they would leer and some of them-. They were planning to r-rape me. But, Sirius, whenever the inner circle members weren't around, he would taunt them and draw their attention to himself. They were always so busy hurting him, they would forget about me." She suddenly broke off and turned to glare at those Order members who she knew disliked Sirius and judged him simply because he was a Black. "Sirius can't possibly be the traitor because the Death Eaters were getting information from the outside when we were trapped in those dungeons. The day before you came to rescue us an inner circle Death Eater walked in. Sirius and I both paid attention to him because he was still wearing his mask. All the others had wanted us to see their faces when they tortured us. Neither one of us recognized his voice, but Sirius thought he was probably disguising it somehow, since he didn't seem to want us to know who he was. He told us that the Order had organized a rescue mission and they would be coming to rescue us within a day. For a second, I thought that maybe he was on our side, but then he laughed. He laughed and I was so scared, he said it wouldn't matter when they came to rescue us because we would both be broken by then." James slowly sank down by her and pulled her into a hug.

"Please, princess, we need to know what he did." The crackle of the fire was unnaturally loud in the otherwise silent room. Every person was completely focused on Maria. Every person save one. Severus Snape struggled to hold in the delighted smile that was threatening to erupt across his face. The thought of knowing Black would soon be hated by every person who had once cared for him was so delicious he could barely control himself. It was desperately hard to hide his joy at knowing he had finally gotten his revenge on Black. He would soon have his revenge on Potter senior and his bitch wife as well, after all, wouldn't the two be devastated when their precious, innocent daughter would turn to him after Black's betrayal. He knew she claimed to have forgiven Black, but that was back when he didn't remember what he had done. Snape was a potion's master, all he needed was a few specific potions and Black would destroy every shred of trust Maria had left for the mutt. Soon enough she would warm his bed and it would destroy James Potter.

"He called the other death eaters in, the minor ones. They had a potion with them, it looked disgusting but it smelled like everything wonderful, like chocolate and Quidditch and the beach and- it's hard to describe. He told us that the potion was the most powerful lust potion every invented, that even though those under its influence knew what they were doing was wrong, they were unable to stop themselves. Then, he ordered the other death eaters to crucio us. I lost count after the 5th time I was hit. When Sirius and I were both barely conscious, they forced Sirius to drink the potion. We'd been chained to the floor before but they unchained him and shifted me so that I was-I was stretched up on my tiptoes against the wall. Then they laughed at us and they left the room. They told Sirius to have fun and that they were going to allow him first dibs on me even though he was a blood traitor. The masked death eater, he hit me with an imperius and told me to struggle and scream and beg and plead with Sirius not to do what he was going to do under the potion's influence. He said that it would be so much worse for Sirius to know how much he had shattered my trust when he remembered my screams. Then he left the room too. I guess the death eater didn't know or maybe forgot that I can throw off the imperius."

"Oh Merlin! I was defending him. I was sitting here and…" Before Lily could finish her sentence, Maria turned to her mother with a fierce, determined expression.

"Let me finish. I don't blame Sirius. He couldn't possibly have fought off the potion especially not after all those crucios." With a sad sigh and glance to her father, she continued her tale before anyone could interrupt again or argue with her. "I didn't fight him. I didn't scream or struggle or anything. I knew the death eater was right about one thing. Sirius would blame himself no matter what. But I thought that maybe if I encouraged him instead of fighting him, he might blame himself less. So, I did, I encouraged him. And once it was done, once the potion wore off." She took in a deep breath and blinked away tears. "He stepped back and he looked at me and I-." She broke off and her voice was so quiet even Remus had to strain to hear her. "I'd never seen him cry before. Not ever. Then the masked death eater walked in and he laughed. I was so angry, Sirius is such an important part of my life and to have our relationship, our friendship ruined because of some disgusting, greasy death eater!" The lights all flickered as Maria struggled to control her magic. Most everyone was so stunned by Maria's revelation they stayed frozen in their seats. James, however, although devastated by what he had heard had been paying strict attention to every word out of his only child's mouth. Therefore, he was the only one who picked up on Maria's reference to a greasy death eater, and his eyes immediately shifted to Snape. Snape who was staring at James' beloved daughter with barely concealed triumph and lust. It was only because Maria had begun to speak again that Snape was saved from James' rage but James swore he would soon have revenge. "He, the death eater I mean, released me from the chains and he tossed me a wand. He said that it was one of those modified wands from Knockturn, that it could only cast the Killing Curse, once. He told me I should get revenge against Sirius. Sirius just-he just stood there like he expected me to kill him, like he wished I would. The death eater started laughing again and I was so angry. I just, I killed him, I killed the death eater."

"You killed him?" The absolute rage James felt towards Snape suddenly faded into confusion.

"Yes. I used the wand on the death eater then, when he fell over I reached through the bars and I got his wand. I used it to melt the bars to make us a hole to escape through. But Sirius he just stood there and I knew that he was going to do something stupid and get himself killed because he blamed himself. So, I-I asked him if he trusted me and when he nodded I told him to close his eyes and I obliviated him. Then, we left the dungeons and we ran into Lucius Malfoy and I don't know why but he helped us to the secret passage. You all know the rest, we stumbled out of the passage and you all were entering it and then we came to Hogwarts and Poppy healed us." She finished in a rush, then took a deep breath, and stood up. "I'm going to go find Sirius now." And with a soft pop, she was gone.

* * *

Teaser:

 

The cold wind at the top of the tower made her shiver. She much preferred the dungeons to the towers. It made sense what with her being a Slytherin. Of course, the fact that he being a former Gryffindor had chosen to hide in a tower also made sense if you looked at it that way. She quietly stepped over to where he sat, legs swinging back and forth over the edge. She silently sank down next to him, but when she went to slip her hand into his, he moved away. Hurt, she reached up and turned his face towards hers and brushed away the tears that had filled his eyes. She let her hand drop back down to her lap and looked out over Hogwarts' grounds. It was a clear, winter day and the white snow covering made everything seem so pure and good.

"Why don't you hate me?" The hoarse whisper caused her to turn away from her examination of the grounds.

"If I hurt you because I didn't have a choice, would you hate me?"

"I could never hate you, but…"

"I love you." Silence and then he, finally, finally after weeks of silence and avoidance, he reached for her.

"Always?" The brilliant smile that broke across her face as he said what was normally her part in their traditional ritual caused his own lips to quirk up in a slight smile.

"Forever."


	2. Games of Circles

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm sure some of you are really confused about the time line of what's going on. I am going to be filling in the gaps in later chapters, but for those of you who can't wait…
> 
> 1\. There was an accident involving a time-turner on Maria's thirteenth birthday, she ends up a year older with no actual time having passed in the actual, normal time line. She is moved up to her fourth year so she is in the same graduating class as Katie Bell.  
> 2\. The DOM battle took place at the end of Maria's sixth year; right AFTER the fifth years had taken their OWL exams (June '96).  
> 3\. OWL results arrive in July, 6 weeks after they take the exams. Assuming OWL's taken over the first 2 weeks of June: on June 13th, 1996, the evening after the last OWL, DOM battle takes place and Sirius and Maria are taken captive.  
> 4\. Maria and Sirius are captives from mid-June to mid-September. Escape on September 15, a few hours after incident between Sirius and Maria.  
> 5\. With the Ministry's approval, a time turner is used to take Maria back in time immediately after the escape: twelve months (suspended time) during four months (real time). She heals (& ages) in suspended time while catching up on missed schooling. It takes Sirius about four months, real time, to recover physically.  
> 6\. Mid-January 1997: Sirius is recovered (mostly) and Maria has returned to real-time. Order meeting where the memory charm is removed occurs Jan 18, 1997.
> 
> Phew, hopefully that explains why Maria is as old as she is. Although, really I just didn't want her to be underage.
> 
> Disclaimer: If you recognize it, it's not mine.

 

* * *

**One Wish**

**Chapter 2: Games of Circles**

**February 8, 1997:**

(Three Weeks After the Order Meeting)

The cold gusts of wind at the top of the tower made her shiver. She so preferred the quiet dungeons to the towers. It made sense what with her being a Slytherin. Of course, the fact that he being a former Gryffindor had chosen to hide in a tower also made sense if you looked at it that way. She quietly stepped over to where he sat, legs swinging back and forth over the edge of the tower. She sank down next to him, but when she went to slip her hand into his, he moved away. Hurt, she reached up and turned his face toward hers and brushed away the tears that had spilled from his gray eyes. She let her hand drop back down to her lap and looked out over Hogwarts' grounds. It was a clear, winter day and the white snow covering made everything appear pure and clean.

"Why don't you hate me?" The hoarse whisper caused her to turn away from her examination of the grounds.

"You didn't hurt me. But if you had… Well, if I hurt you because I didn't have a choice, would you hate me?"

"I could never hate you, but…"

"I love you." Silence and then he, finally, finally after weeks of silence and avoidance, he reached for her.

"Always?" The brilliant smile that broke across her face as he said what was normally her part in their traditional ritual caused his own lips to quirk up in a slight smile.

"Forever." Maria sighed softly and leaned into Sirius' arms. "I missed you, these past three weeks. How did you manage to hide from me so long? I thought I knew all your hiding places." The smile on her face contrasted with the slightly accusing tone to her words.

"Well, actually, I convinced Albus to let me help recruit the Italians to help us in the war. I'm fluent in Italian, remember, so they were more likely to listen to me." Sirius knew Maria well enough that he immediately leaned away slightly after letting that little nugget of truth out.

"Albus knew." Her expression was completely calm and she seemed to be in control. From her expression, any bystander would guess she was not even a little upset at the news. Of course, Sirius knew that the explosion was imminent. "ALBUS FUCKING KNEW WHERE YOU WERE AND DIDN'T TELL ME! MERLIN'S BALLS…THAT…THAT…" Her voice got very quiet as she continued her rant in angry mutters, "bloody, stupid, senile, old…GOAT! Oh, I am so going to-to, I don't know what but it's going to be something completely evil. I'll-I'll steal his beloved, bloody lemon drops! I'll steal his lemon drops and give them all to Aberforth and then he won't have any and…" Loud laughter caused her to break off her rant. She turned to look at Sirius, where he was leaning against the tower's wall, laughing hysterically. He finally managed to bring his laughter under control and replied,

"Oh Ria, you have no idea how much I missed you!" He broke off into snickers at her pout.

"Don't laugh at me! I wasn't kidding! I really will steal his lemon drops!"

"That's your revenge?" Sirius highly amused expression and lighthearted words hid the fact that he was still not over the memories revealed by breaking the memory charm. Rather than bringing up the reason he had been avoiding her for three weeks, he started joking about Dumbledore, "I'm sure he's shaking in his robes, wherever he is right now!"

"Well, I figure if I do what I really want to do, I'm either going to A. get expelled or B. get sent to Azkaban for murder or C. both." Maria slipped her hand into Sirius' and turned to face him, leaning against the opposite wall. She had also not dealt with what happened during their captivity, but she was more worried for Sirius. Instead of discussing the big problem hanging over both their heads, she also buried her feelings, and avoided talking about the real issues by instead attacking Sirius' choices. "I was so scared when I couldn't find you. I was terrified you would do something horribly idiotic." Sirius frowned and replied,

"Have some faith. I've been taking care of myself since long before you were even born."

"Don't be an ass Sirius. I know you can take care of yourself. I also know that when you're feeling guilty or depressed you tend to make stupid mistakes."

"I do not." Maria let out a low growl, a highly irritated frown on her face, and angrily retorted,

"Oh really. Who was the dumb-ass that almost fell through the veil of DEATH because he was too busy taunting his psychotic cousin?" Maria pulled her hand out of his, folded her arms across her chest, and glared at Sirius. "Who was the depressed idiot that FORGOT to turn off the stove after his break up with a certain bitch-who-must-not-be-named and almost burned down my aunt's house? Who was-"

"Alright. Alright fine, you're right, I'm wrong and apparently I'm also an idiot and a dumb-ass and …"

"Oh my god Sirius, would you please get over yourself? You are such a-a-UGH. You are really getting on my nerves now!" She glared at Sirius who suddenly smirked, "What are you smirking about?"

"You know, you're gorgeous when you're pissed off." Sirius' eyes suddenly went wide as he realized what he had just let slip, "I mean-uh-um…" Maria stared back at him, completely stunned.

"Um, what?" Before Sirius could reply, the door opened suddenly, making them both jump in surprise.

"Sirius? Maria? Are you in here?"

"Dad? Uh, yeah, we're both sitting over by the window. Did you need something?"

"Actually, I needed to talk to Sirius, now that he's finally decided to stop avoiding everyone." Maria and Sirius exchanged worried looks, James did not sound happy.

"Um Dad," before Maria could say anything further, her father interrupted.

"No Maria. Sirius and I need to talk. Besides, shouldn't you be studying for that Potions exam? You know Snape is just looking for an excuse to drop your grade and give you detention." She looked over at Sirius, who waved her off and then sighed and left the room.

"So, are you going to shove me off of the top of the tower, then? Or just Avada Kedavra me?" Sirius slumped back against the wall and looked away from James, refusing to meet his eyes.

"Do you think I should? Do you think that would make my daughter happy?" Sirius opened his mouth to reply, but before he could James continued, angrily, "Maybe if you could stop feeling sorry for yourself and actually try to deal with this like an adult, I wouldn't want to shove you off the tower!"

"Deal with this? How? I raped-"

"Shut up."

"James-"

"SHUT UP! What is wrong with you, Sirius? You never used to be this dense!" Hurt, Sirius looked up at James.

"I know that you hate me now, everyone hates me now, and they should. Maria says she forgives me, but–." James let out a single, pissed off growl and punched Sirius in the nose. There was a loud crack and Sirius immediately bent over and brought up his hands to cover his broken nose. James let out an exasperated sigh, ran his hands over his face, flopped down in front of Sirius, and pulled out his wand.

"Put your hands down so I can heal that." At first, Sirius resisted but James finally managed to bring Sirius' hands away from his face and began to run the wand over the injury. "It's a clean break, here, let me fix it.  _Episkey._  There, you're healed. Now can we discuss this like grown ups?"

"Do I have a choice?" James' jaw clenched angrily as he tried to control his temper; Sirius was obviously baiting him.

"I am mad at you. I am furious with you. But you don't even know why, and instead of trying to fix the problem you've been moping and sulking, feeling sorry for yourself, and not dealing with the problem. Like a child would. Ever since Maria was little, whenever she's hurt you are the first person she goes to. For the past three weeks, she's had to deal with everything all by herself. You know that she almost never discusses her nightmares with Lily or me! Do you know that she wakes up screaming every night because of the nightmares? But instead of dealing with them, she's been too busy worrying about you, and you didn't even have the decency to let her know where you are!"

"How would I be able to help her? I'm the one that hurt her! Being around me is just going to make her nightmares worse!"

"What makes you think that? Do you even know what her nightmares are about?"

"It's pretty easy to guess. The one person she trusted most in the world, raped her. Obviously she has nightmares about it. I don't even know how she can stand to be around me."

"Sirius. How do you define rape?"

"What? What kind of question is that?"

"Humor me, Sirius. How would you define rape?"

"Forcing someone to have sex when they don't want to or taking advantage of someone when you know that in normal circumstances they would never consent."

"Hm, did she say No?"

"What?"

"Did she say no? Did she struggle? Did she try to fight you off or stop you?"

"James! What the fuck does that matter? Just because she didn't say no, doesn't mean she wanted to-"

"She's really close to Neville right? And Draco? And Ron? And Peter? And Remus? If instead of you, it had been one of them, what do you think she would have done?"

"I don't know, the same thing I guess." James sighed and tipped his head back.

"For someone so smart, you can be incredibly dense."

"I honestly don't understand what you're trying to say."

"She loves all of them, but even if they had been in exactly the same position with her…she would have tried to fight them off. Even knowing that they would be devastated afterward, knowing that she didn't really have a chance at fighting them off, she would still try to fight them off. She would have said no and begged for them to stop. She didn't try to fight you off, she didn't say no to you, and she didn't struggle against you. Hell, she encouraged you. You weren't in control of your actions. She was."

"What are you saying?"

"She loves you! She's fucking completely in love with you! She didn't stop you because she wanted to be with you." James broke off and scrubbed his hands across his face, then continued talking, "Maria thought you were both going to die in those dungeons. She thought that if she was going to die, she wanted her last memory to be of the man she loved. She wanted to lose her virginity to the man she loved instead of being raped by some death eater! She has nightmares every night of you telling her you hate her because she thinks SHE raped YOU! She thinks she took advantage of you. You said rape is, 'forcing someone to have sex when they don't want to or taking advantage of someone when you know that in normal circumstances they would never consent.' Well, if you go by that definition, she took advantage of you since you were under the influence of a potion so I guess she is right." Sirius stared at his best friend; his jaw dropped and eyes wide, the complete shock was evident on Sirius' face.

"She-what? She was chained up! She couldn't have-I was the one who- Merlin. This is such a mess!" Sirius leaned forward and placed his head in his hands. "I don't understand how she could possibly think that I would hate her. That I blame her for what happened! I would never blame her or hate her, it was my fault not hers! I should have been strong enough to fight off the potion. I am strong enough to fight off the potion, but-" Abruptly, Sirius broke off and stood.

"But you didn't try as hard as you would have if it'd been someone else?"

"James, I never wanted to hurt her. I just-I couldn't stop myself. I tried, I swear, I tried to stop." The obvious anguish on Sirius' face caused all of James' remaining anger to disappear.

"Sirius. Are you in love with my daughter?" Sirius swallowed hard, then looked James in the eye and nodded.

"Yes I am."

"Then you need to tell her. She doesn't blame you for what happened in those dungeons. She blames herself because she's in love with you. The same way you don't blame her and instead blame yourself. The two of you need to talk and sort this all out."

"Why aren't you telling me to stay the hell away from your daughter? Why aren't you threatening to…castrate and murder me?"

"If it were anyone but you, I would be."

"Really? Why anyone but me?"

"Yeah. I trust you Sirius and I know you. I know you better than anyone and I can't see you ever hurting her. I have always trusted you around her and I think you're probably the only person I would trust with her heart. Of course, if you hurt her again, I will kill you." The deadly serious look on James' face said that he was not joking about killing Sirius if he hurt Maria.

"Uh. You really mean that? The part about the trusting of me not the part about the killing of me."

"Yes, I trust you. Honestly, if she were to tell me that she was in love with Remus or Peter or if they were to tell me that they were in love with her, I would not approve. I would make them stay the hell away from her. They are both my best friends, brothers practically, but I know that neither one of them would make her happy. They would try but they wouldn't be able to and then they would eventually break her heart. My little girl is the one person I love most in the world, more then all of my friends and family, more than you, more than Lily. As her father, in my eyes, no one's good enough for her, but I trust that you would try everyday to be good enough for her."

"I would. I will! I really will." Sirius tilted his head back and leaned against the wall, staring at the ceiling. "I don't even know when I went from loving her as my best friend, to being completely in love with her."

"So, why are you still here?" When Sirius looked at him, confused, James smirked and held out a large, ratty piece of parchment. "Here, I figured you might want this." Sirius took the Marauder's Map from his best friend, and with a slight smile, activated it.

"I solemnly swear I am up to no good."

"No kidding." Sirius looked up and blushed, actually blushed. James stared at him in surprise and then broke out into laughter.

"Shut up. Prongs! Stop laughing!" Sirius' whining only made James laugh harder.

"You two are really perfect for each other, you're both mentally the same age!"

"Go away." James finally stopped laughing, and then with a slight grin replied,

"Before you go run after her, there is one condition to this whole 'I-give-you-permission-to-date-my-18-year-old-daughter' thing."

"Uh, no sex?" James immediately made a choking sound and turned red.

"Yes, I mean no. I mean yes. Um-Damn it Sirius!" Sirius looked torn between whether he should be laughing or whether he should be running away. "The CONDITION is that I don't want to know anything about you and her and your …" James broke off and waved a hand in Sirius' general direction. "You know."

"Our sex life?"

"SIRIUS! I SAID I DON'T WANT TO KNOW! I am going to live in denial. Happily. In. Denial. GOT IT?"

"Right. Got it. No discussing…personal matters in front of you."

"Exactly." For a second, the two best friends just stared at each other. "Uh, so, this is kind of awkward now."

"Right, yeah, so I'm going to just…go. Now. Alright?"

"Yeah. Sure." The awkward silence continued for a second, until Sirius looked back down at the map, looked back up at James, and then quickly walked out of the room. James could hear Sirius begin running as soon as he was out of the room.

* * *

Teaser:

"Hey, Maria"

"Yes?"

"If you don't want everyone else to figure out that you've been sleeping with Sirius for the past two months… You might want to practice not walking funny."

* * *

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AN: So, hopefully the story will begin to become less angst filled and dark from here on in. At least when it comes to Sirius and Maria's relationship; the war of course is still going on so that part of the story will still be dark. The chapter title, by the way, is from a Ralph Waldo Emerson quote, "Conversation is a game of circles."  
> Anyhow, I am still in search of a beta to look over my stories! So if any of you could beta or know someone who could beta, please, please let me know. And as always, review after you read please! Let me know if you liked something or didn't like something or whatever!


	3. I'm Not Jealous

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This follows the Naughty Drabble, I wrote this one for Sirius100's Jealousy challenge...it is set later on in the same universe the Naughty challenge response was from. Once again, I've changed it from the original so its a bit longer than the original 144 words...
> 
> Disclaimer: I don't own anything...well except for my barely functioning laptop! But really, anything you recognize is the property of JKR and her people! I'm just playing in her universe!

Title: I'm Not Jealous!

Challenge: Jealousy Word Count: More than 144?  
Rating: PG (for innuendo)  
Characters: Sirius, girl!Harry (MJ Potter), (Draco, Ron, and James are mentioned but not present...)

"So. Draco seems. Nice. Very. Uh. Yeah. Nice."

"Oh, he is very, very nice. It really is true what they say...you know: big hands, big feet, big d-"

"WHAT! Y-You shouldn't even...That's not...too young!"

"Sirius. You're not making any sense. Besides, he's hot and-mmmph."

Three amazing hours later

"So, I forgot to tell you...we're supposed to go over to Draco and Ron's for dinner Friday night, its sort of a double date."

"A da-double date?! But, isn't Ron gay? You! You tric-mmmph!"

The Next Morning

"I love it when you're jealous."

"I wasn't jealous. Really. I wasn't...Stop laughing!"

"You weren't jealous? So...why'd you jump me then?"

"I, uh, sooo, its going to fun explaining this to your Dad."

"Psh. Just tell him you got jealous, couldn't control yourself anymore, and just jumped me."

"You mean the truth? Um, I would prefer not to die just yet...plus, in case you haven't realized...Lily's going to castrate me!"

"Aww, don't worry Siri, I'll protect yo-mmmph..."


	4. Half Cracked

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: I don't own anything you recognize. I'm also (obviously) not making any money off of this.

  
**One Wish  
** _Chapter 3: Half-Cracked_   


* * *

_"A true friend is one who thinks you are a good egg even if you are half-cracked." Author Unknown_

* * *

_April 8, 1997 - Hogwarts_

"Hey, Maria."

"Yes?"

"If you don't want everyone else to figure out that you've been sleeping with Sirius for the past two months… You might want to practice not walking funny." It was only Maria's years of practicing Occlumency that allowed her to hide her shock.

"I don't know what you're talking about." First rule of being a celebrity: no comment, always. Second rule of being a celebrity: deny everything!

"Yes, I'm a Hufflepuff, but that doesn't mean I'm stupid." Rolling her eyes, Maria turned back to face her perceptive best friend.

"I didn't say you were stupid Daphne! I just-"

"You know, you've been awfully secretive about everything lately. I've given you enough time to bask in your happiness; it's confession time."

"Daph-wait! What are you doing? Where are you taking me?" Other students turned to stare as Daphne Greengrass dragged the screaming girl-who-lived through the dungeons.

"Shh. Stop yelling. You're attracting attention."

"I always attract attention. I can't help it, I'm gorgeous!" Maria made sure to smile and wave as she was dragged past the other students. She couldn't help but love the spotlight; it was the attention whore inside of her. Her mum always said it was one of the flaws she inherited from her father. Her daddy usually replied that her temper was a flaw she got from her mum. At that point they usually got into one of their crazy fights and wouldn't come out of the Master Bedroom for a few hours. When she was younger, she asked them once why they always ended up going to the Master Bedroom when they fought. But they had just smirked and told her she'd understand when she was older. Well, she definitely understood now! Speaking of Sirius-

"Oi! Did you hear a single thing I just said?" Startled, Maria was jolted back to reality by Daphne screaming in her face from about two inches away.

"You know Daph, you're supposed to use your three-inch voice when you're inside."

"My three-? Shut up. No, really. Shut. Up." Maria watched with interest as Daphne proceeded to turn a strange pinkish-red color while glaring at her.

"Alright. I'm listening, what do you want?"

"We are going to the DA room and you are going to explain exactly what has been going on with you for the past few months! I'm your best friend, dammit, not one of those plebeian lesser-beings who read the papers to find out what's happening in your life!"

"Okay, okay! Relax. I'm sorry you had to read because of me. I can honestly say I don't understand why you aren't in Ravenclaw. Seriously though. You need to relax. Take deep breaths and-" She broke off into snickers as Daphne growled at her.

"MARIA! I am going to smack the smirk off of your face in about two seconds!" Maria took a deep breath, grinned, and replied,

"Okay. Let's go to the Room of Requirement and I'll explain. Fine?" Daphne narrowed her eyes but finally nodded her agreement. The two friends linked arms and began to make their way up to the Room of Requirement.

Daphne and Maria finally made it to the seventh floor and headed to the section opposite the tapestry of Barnabas and his troll ballet. Once there they realized Hermione Granger was already there. Horrified, both watched as she paced in front of the blank wall. Furious at one of her 'enemies' having the audacity to try and take over her headquarters, Maria immediately shrieked, "You! What are you doing here?" Hermione turned and glanced disdainfully at the Slytherin,

"It's a free country. You don't own this room. I can be here if I want. Besides, shouldn't you be out torturing puppies or something?" Rolling her eyes, Maria responded,

"I've already filled my puppy-torturing quota for today." A lofty, imperious look appeared on Maria's face as she waved a hand in Hermione's direction and continued, "Anyway, I don't really care why you're here, it doesn't matter, since you're going to be leaving now. I need the room and I am obviously much more important than you will ever be."

"Why are you so arrogant? Don't you even care abou-?"

"I'm beautiful, smart, rich, and famous. Everyone loves me; of course I'm arrogant. You on the other hand, you're ugly and nobody likes you. Why are you so bossy?" Glaring, Maria watched as Granger ran off in tears. Daphne might be Maria's best friend, but Hermione was a fellow Hufflepuff so she felt compelled to speak up.

"Why are you always such a bitch to Granger? What did she do ever do to you?"

"It's more that she exists, you know." Daphne fell silent in horror as she turned to face her best friend. It seemed being a Slytherin had 'corrupted' Maria just like Lavender once predicted it would.

"She exists? That's a horrible thing to say about a person! Since when are you prejudiced against someone because they're Muggle-born? Bit of a hypocrite aren't you? You're a full-blood witch not a pure-blood witch in case you forgot! Your mum may be a witch but she's still a Muggle-born! You were the one that was always harping on to the rest of us about prejudice and now you're hating on Granger, just bec-" Sighing, Maria stopped the rant before Daphne could build up anymore steam.

"Careful, Daph, your inner 'puff is showing. Besides, I don't hate Granger. Well, I don't hate her completely, just mostly. It has nothing to do with her blood; I could care less if she were a Muggle or if she were pure-blood. I hate how she acts like she knows everything. She acts just like Smith, Macmillan and the rest of their gang."

"Smith and Macmillan? They want to kick all the Muggle-born out of the Wizarding World! Granger's nothing like them!"

"Smith and Macmillan think they know everything about the Muggles and the Muggle-born, right? They just assume their way of thinking is right and they never even bother to check the facts. Granger's the same way. Do you remember how the summer after second year, after my time-turner trip on my actual birthday, a bunch of us met up in Diagon Alley to celebrate my and Neville's birthdays?"

"Yeah, I remember, I couldn't come because I was in France on vacation with my family. But what does that have to do with anything?"

"Hang on and I'll tell you. So, anyways, it was Me, Neville, Ron, Morag, Tracey, and Quincy."

"Rivers, the first and only Muggle-born in Slytherin? I thought you didn't start hanging out with him until last year?"

"Yeah, but we still talked back then since his family lives near my mum's parents. His parents told my grandparents that he had a bunch of questions so we invited him to hang out. Anyway, point is, we were explaining the differences between half-blood, pure-blood, and full-blood to Quincy. He'd overheard Malfoy and Macmillan arguing and was all confused. You know how the books in the Hogwarts' library don't really explain the blood stuff properly, yeah? So there we're all sitting around a booth at Fortescue's and Quincy is asking us all these questions…"

* * *

_August 3, 1993 – Diagon Alley_

"I still don't understand the difference between pure-blood, full-blood, and half-blood."

"Well, a pure-blood is someone who's parents and all four grandparents were magical. The further back the magic goes in the bloodline the more "pure" it is. But you have to have at least that much in order to be pure-blood. Like Morag, her parents and grandparents are all magical, but she has a great grandmother who was a Muggle. So Morag is a first generation pure-blood. The more generations of pure-blood you are, the better it's supposed to be."

"Okay, but what about half-blood?"

"Half-blood is like, Tracey, one parent who is magical and one parent who isn't. It doesn't matter if one parent is pure-blood and the other a Muggle or if one parent is Muggle-born and the other a Muggle, the kid in both cases is considered half-blood. The main difference between those two cases is that the generations after the first case will probably end up becoming pure-blood before the generations after the second case."

"So, Finnigan and Li are both half-bloods? Even though, Seamus' mom is pure-blood and Li's dad is Muggle-born. Maria, aren't you considered full-blood, what does that mean?"

"Yeah, I am. Neville's better at explaining this stuff though." She turned to Neville, who once again began to explain,

"Yeah Seamus and Su are both half-bloods. As for Maria, she is considered full-blood. It's a special case that became more important during and after the war with Grindelwald. Basically it means both your parents are magical, but not all of your grandparents. Still, not every person with two magical parents is considered full-blood; the parent that isn't pure-blood has to have magical blood in their ancestry. Like Maria, her dad is a pure-blood, but her mum is Muggle-born. As you probably already heard, the Evans' are a well-known, Welsh pure-blood family. Mrs. Potter can trace her paternal Muggle family back to a squib son of that Evans family. The son, like most squibs in those days, married another squib and both of them left the Wizarding World and lived as Muggles. Maria won't inherit anything from the Evans family, because the relationship is too distant. Same thing on her maternal grandmother's side; also distantly squib-descended. However, thanks to those relationships, even though they're distant, she is considered full-blood because she has magical blood on all sides of her family and both her parents are magical."

"Alright, well why did the full-blood case become more important during the war with Grindelwald?"

"Well, a lot of witches and wizards were killed all over Europe so the inheritance lines were getting really complicated. Then the Gringotts' goblins said there were Muggle-born witches and wizards who were eligible for inheritances. They basically let out a press release stating that some Muggle-born were actually more closely related to many of the families then the pure-bloods who were fighting over the inheritances. It caused this huge uproar, very early in 1940. Of course everyone denied it as 'a bunch of lies from the upstart, half-breed Goblins' and it would've been buried except some of the researchers in the Department of Mysteries came forward and said it was true. So, of course it took a while for everyone to settle down again but eventually the pure-bloods accepted that some Muggle-born were actually squib-born. That's when the whole full-blood category was created. Officially, most of the older pure-blood families will say they accepted it to prevent another Goblin Rebellion and all the drama associated with them. But the unofficial reason is that the inbreeding was starting to cause noticeable problems and creating a 'full-blood' group meant the bloodlines could be kept 'pure' but new blood could still be brought in. Since the squib-born were still descended from magical blood it meant they weren't 'contaminating' the lines with dirty blood. Of course, a few families still don't acknowledge full-bloods, but almost all the families with political power have been brought around to accept them."

"Wow. You know I can almost understand how the whole pure-blood-Muggle-born divide began."

"You can?"

"Yeah, I mean you guys have all this history and most of it isn't explained in any of the history books we have access to. The only way to learn it is by hearing it from somebody who already knows. Malfoy is always whining about how wizard culture is being diluted because of Muggle-borns, but in a way he's right. I mean I've always been really curious about history so I ask you all these questions. But I bet a lot of other Muggle-born don't really care about the history and they just try to change things without finding out any of the reasons for why things are the way they are. If I was a pure-blood, and someone from outside my culture came in and just started harping on about why everything I'd ever known was wrong I'd be pretty hostile too."

"Yeah, that is why some of the pure-bloods don't like Muggle-born. So you're right about them. But then some of the pure-bloods, like Smith and Macmillan, they just hate out of ignorance and fear."

"Yeah, I've heard people saying that but I still don't understand why anyone would they be afraid of Muggle-born witches and wizards? I mean when we come into the magical world, we don't know anything about magic, so-"

"Not Muggle-born per say, but more the Muggles who are associated with the Muggle-born. Just think of it this way, every Muggle-born wizard has a Muggle family. So, with every Muggle-born the chances of the entire magical world being exposed increases. Even though the Witch Trials and the Witch Burnings didn't harm very many wizards or witches, it did harm some. Plus, Muggles outnumber magical beings by a huge amount. There is still a lot of residual fear associated with Muggles, and instead of trying to learn more about the Muggles most pure-bloods instead hate them. It's easier." Maria nodded her agreement to Neville's statement and broke in with her opinion,

"Neville, Ron, Morag, and Daphne are all considered pure-blood but they're not really a good representation of the other pure-bloods. I mean, Morag's only first-generation, Daphne's a Greengrass and they've been neutral for ages, and Ron's considered a blood-traitor since he's a Weasley. Even Neville's family is not as high up anymore since Uncle Frank and Aunt Alice are both aurors and they fought against Voldemort. So, don't give the pure-bloods too much credit, deep down, a lot of them really are just prejudiced gits."

"Yeah, I guess prejudice is the same everywhere."

"So, do you have anymore questions on your list?"

"Oh, yeah actually! If, you guys don't mind?"

"Actually, it's sort of fun to explain this to someone else." Maria, Morag, and Tracey nodded in agreement with Neville's words, while Ron chimed in with his opinion,

"Yeah, it's weird how all of this is just a bunch of facts that we grew up learning but I guess for you it's all new. I never even thought how hard it must be for Muggle-borns to come in and basically be in a whole new world."

"Yeah, it is hard, but it's also worth all the work! I love magic!" Grinning, everyone took bites of their sundaes as they waited for Quincy to ask his next question. "Moving on, my next question is about House-Elves. Um, from a Muggle-born perspective, it seems like they're-um. Why…I don't really know how to put this without offending you all."

"You want to know if we keep the house-elves as our slaves, right?"

"Well, not exactly in those words, but yeah, basically."

"Hm, honestly, I do think the system is flawed. The house-elves aren't slaves, exactly. I'm not trying to say that slavery is okay in some cases or anything. But, there is a good reason for house-elves holding the position they hold. Unfortunately, a lot of pure-blood families abuse their house-elves and their isn't a way for them to escape that abusive environment. The Muggle-born who come into the magical world should be trying to do one of two things. First, they should try to create a system so that if house-elves are being abused they can leave that household and move to some other, safer place. Maybe create a system where they can be bound to a company and hired out? I don't know, something like that maybe. Second, they should try and find a way to stabilize the house-elves magic. The truth is that the house elves need to be bound to something. See, the house-elves are a created species. I don't know who created them exactly, but I do know they were created by some magical beings. They have to be bound because when they were created, their magic was unstable. Since they're a created species they also don't evolve like most other species and the unstable magic is still a part of them after many generations. By binding them to the families, it gives their magic a purpose and they don't lose control. Whenever a house-elf has been unbound for a long period of time, they've lost control of their magic and eventually died. Sometimes, they also caused a lot of damage to their surroundings before they died, but that's actually rare. That's why they're so deathly afraid of being free. It's also why so many of them will put up with and accept the abuse instead of risking being freed."

"So, freeing them would be the same as killing them? Since they lose control of their magic?"

"Well, yeah. But, even if they didn't have unstable magic, you can't just go free them. Think of it this way, you don't send ten year old children out into the world to fend for themselves, right? If they do eventually find a way to stabilize the house-elves magic so they can be freed, they couldn't be immediately freed. First, they would have to be taught how to survive in the real world. Once that happened, yes they could and should be freed. Most house-elves right now don't understand the point of being paid since they can make everything they need with magic. Also, telling them to go on vacation is like a death sentence; their magic has to be constantly given a purpose."

"That's all just propaganda. I bet that's what all you pure-bloods say in order to justify the subjugation of your slaves." The group turned around to see Hermione Granger, with her normal superior expression plastered on her face, standing near their table. As they watched incredulously, she stomped up to their table, slammed her numerous, book-filled bags on their table, shoving their sundaes and other things out of the way. "You should be ashamed of yourselves. You're all just a bunch of rich, arrogant slave-owners." Before she could continue, Neville spoke up,

"We're arrogant? Look in a mirror! Have you ever even talked to any house-elves about their feelings? Or did you just assume that you know what's best for everyone, like usual? You have some nerve, you bossy, stuck up, little busybody! How dare you come over here and interrupt our private conversation! Didn't your parents teach you any manners? Or are you too good for manners?" Neville was normally the most easygoing member of the group but people like Granger tended to bring out the loud-mouthed, stubborn Gryffindor in him.

"Guys, lets just go. All of a sudden I lost my appetite." Morag managed to convince the others to let it go and as a group they all stood and began to leave.

"Maria! Where are you all going? You haven't even finished your sundaes!"

"Oh, hi Mr. Fortescue, well we were just…" Maria trailed off and exchanged looks with her friends, unsure what to tell the kind proprietor of the ice cream parlor. But there was no need for them to explain further, as Fortescue had apparently also heard the racket made by the overbearing, nosy know-it-all. He pursed his lips, and frowning turned to face Granger.

"I see. Miss I'm afraid I'm going to have to ask you to leave. You are causing a scene and disturbing many of my paying customers. I believe you have just interrupted the birthday celebration of this group and you are also disturbing many of my customers at the surrounding tables." Sure enough, all around frowning, upset customers were pointing at Hermione and whispering, disapproval evident on their faces.

"I have to leave? Well of course, you're part of the establishment. You're going to stick up for these pure-blood, racist, slave-owners." Before she could continue with her sanctimonious rant, Quincy stood up and interrupted,

"Actually, I'm Muggle-born. Morag's great-grandmother was a Muggle. Tracey's dad is a Muggle. Oh, and both of Maria's maternal grandparents are squib-born, Muggles. You should really try to do some research and get your facts straight otherwise you just come across as ignorant. Now I really think you should go, you're making every Muggle-born look bad. Plus, I bet your parents will be really embarrassed if they have to come bail you out after you get arrested for creating a scene in the middle of an ice cream parlor after the owner asked you nicely to leave." Hermione seemed like she was going to protest, but after looking around and realizing she had no supporters, she finally gathered her things and left. The other customers finally settled down, and Mr. Fortescue managed to convince Maria and her friends to stay and not let the annoying girl ruin their gathering.

* * *

_Back in the Room of Requirement:_

"Wow. Well that explains why you all hate her so much! I always figured you guys had some sort of a reason; even Neville doesn't like her! And he gets along with everyone; he even gets along with Malfoy! But go Mr. Fortescue! That was pretty nice of him, how he came out and told her off! Still, you have to admit, you do go a bit overboard a lot of the time."

"Well she was scaring off his customers. But yeah it was pretty neat to see her get told off. As for going overboard, I can't help it, that's just the way I am. Besides, I don't even like her so I honestly could care less if she feels bad. Anyways, now you know why she brings my inner bitch out." By this point Maria and Daphne were sprawled across a pair of couches in the Room of Requirement. "So, anyhow, what did you want to talk about?" With a bounce, Daphne sat up and grinned at Maria,

"Oooh, I want to know everything! You and Sirius! How, when, how, where, how! Did I mention how? Because I especially want to know the how! Like how good? And how big? And how –" Maria broke into laughter, interrupting Daphne's excited monologue,

"Alright, alright, relax! Before I start, you want to know how good - definitely so, very good!" Both exchanged mischievous grins, "Anyway, you already know about what happened…when we were captured, right?"

"Yeah, you're all recovered from that though, right?"

"Yeah, we're both fine now. Actually, I think everyone has kind of gotten over it now. I mean the only reason my dad didn't kill Sirius, when he first found out, was because I made him promise not to blame Sirius. Dad had an entire three weeks to get over the whole incident. Plus, the way dad tells the story both Sirius and I were moping around all the time for those three weeks after everyone found out. Supposedly, dad got so sick of it he stepped in and finally knocked some sense into Sirius."

"Wait, so your DAD convinced Sirius to ask you out?"

"Yeah. How weird is that? I was so embarrassed at first, especially when Sirius told me all about their conversation. But, you know, it makes sense, with Sirius being his best friend and me being his daughter, this way both of us are happy and he doesn't have to pick one of us to side with."

"True. So, I know he asked you out that same day…but I want the rest of the details!"

"Well, since it was a Saturday, Ron and Malfoy invited me to see their new place. You know, the house they had just bought in Hogsmeade? I don't know if you remember, but I hadn't started classes back up at that point. Of course, since the two of them were in classes, we had to wait until a weekend when they'd be free."

"Mmmhmm, I remember. Personally, I still can't believe Ron's dating Malfoy of all people." Snickering, Maria agreed,

"I know! It's not something I would've ever expected. Still, if it makes Ron happy, I guess we have to accept Malfoy as part of the group now. Honestly though, I don't get what everyone sees in him! I mean first he's one of Neville's best friends…and now he's Ron's boyfriend? Oh well, moving on…so I'm standing there, talking to the two of them. We were actually planning on walking down to the house. Right as we start walking, all of a sudden, out of nowhere, Sirius comes running up. He was all, 'Maria we need to talk'. But see, apparently, he had run all the way down from the tower, and he was all sweaty and breathing hard…" Sighing dreamily, she broke off and Daphne started laughing,

"You were drooling all over him, weren't you?" Maria flushed in response, and said,

"Ron kept smirking at me; I swear he has been spending way too much time with Snape. But anyhow, Sirius already knew Ron, but since he didn't really know Malfoy, other than as Narcissa's son, I introduced them to each other. While Sirius and Malfoy were…" Maria laughed slightly, before continuing, "…posturing, Ron pulled me to the side and suggested the four of us meet up at their new place for dinner, the next Friday on a double date. Finally, after the four of us walked down to Hogsmeade, Sirius and I split off and apparated over to his apartment. Somehow, I'm not really sure why, Sirius got the impression I was the one who was involved with Draco."

"He thought you were with Malfoy! How can anyone mistake Malfoy as straight?"

"I don't know! So he was all trying to not be jealous, it was actually pretty funny. Anyways, I ended up…spending the night, since we needed to talk."

"Oh of course, that's why you spent the night, to talk. Is that what they call it now?" Blushing, Maria continued,

"Ahem. Well, we didn't actually get to talking until late Sunday afternoon."

"Merlin's Balls! You mean to say that you spend all of Saturday…"

"All of Saturday…and the entire night…and most of Sunday morning, actually."

"Wow."

"Yeah. It was very wow. But we did eventually actually talk everything over. I finally told him how I felt and it turns out he loves me too…"

"Aw, that's so cute!"

"I know! Actually, part of the reason he hadn't told me before was because he was afraid of how Mum and Dad would react. He was still pretty worried, I mean Dad only gave him permission to date me…nothing more. And everyone knows how overprotective my Dad gets."

"Merlin I know! Everyone still talks about how your Dad freaked out when he found out that you were going to the Yule Ball with Viktor Krum! And that was before you and Viktor tried having an actual, serious relationship!"

"Yeah, exactly. Still, Siri and I talked it all over and decided we would try out a relationship. We basically only have one rule. We are best friends first, and dating second. One of my biggest fears, which kept me from telling him, was if our relationship doesn't work out we might end up hating each other."

"Oh please, as if that could ever happen to you two."

"I know we're in the honeymoon period right now and we act all fluffy, but just look at Davies and Chang! Everyone thought they would end up getting married eventually and now they can't even stand to be in the same room."

"I guess. It stinks how you two couldn't celebrate Valentine's Day because he had Order business." Maria nodded her agreement,

"I think the worst part about me still being in school is how hard it is to find time to see each other. Although, Siri and I not being in Hogsmeade turned out to actually be a good thing that weekend. If we had been there we would have been caught up in the middle of Voldemort's attack. Instead, we were both able to help the Order stop the attack."

"That's true. Did you guys ever get to celebrate Valentine's Day? Or go see Ron and Malfoy's place?"

"Well, after the battle there was a whole bunch of clean up to be done so he didn't really have time for either. Then, I was so busy with classes, Quidditch, and all my Head Girl duties and I didn't have any time. Plus, Professor Dumbledore only agreed to let me leave campus every other weekend, unless it's an emergency." Daphne rolled her eyes and sarcastically replied,

"Well, you are a dangerous Slytherin. You might abuse your privileges if you were allowed off campus every weekend. I mean, how are the Professors supposed to know you are trustworthy? It's not like you're Quidditch Captain and Head Girl and they know you're responsible after seeing you juggle those and all of your other duties. Oh, no, wait. They do know that."

"I'm only Head Girl because Chang couldn't handle it and Katie Bell didn't want it. McGonagall and Flitwick would never have let me be Head Girl otherwise." Daphne waved her hand imperiously and retorted,

"Oh come off it. The only reason you weren't Head Girl from the beginning was because you were taking your little time travel recovery trip."

"Whatever. It doesn't matter now, the point is V-Day weekend we were fighting Voldemort and the Death Eater's. Then the next weekend that I was allowed off campus was the first weekend in March. I'd already promised to go help Fred and George Weasley with the shop. Luckily, Sirius was free and he volunteered to help me, so that Fred and George could go out with Angelina and Alicia. Even though it wasn't anything like a traditional 'date', it was actually one of the best dates I've ever been on. We were laughing and having a good time the entire time we were there. That whole weekend was basically just the two of us hanging out exactly like we used to when we were just friends."

"Exactly like you used to when you were just friends? Well, other than the snogging bit, I'm sure!"

"Uh, yeah. Other than that." Grinning happily, Maria continued, "Honestly though, I had such a great time with Sirius. I mean I always loved spending time with him, but that weekend really made me believe the two of us can actually have a real relationship."

"A real relationship…like for example?"

"For example, my parents. They've been married for over 18 years and they're still as in love now as they were when they first got married."

"Marriage! You want to marry him?"

"Well not right now, but someday? Yeah, I think I would."

"Bloody Hell. You really are in love with him! I knew you liked him a lot, but I didn't realize…you're totally head over heels for him!" Maria blushed and just smiled softly in response. "Wow. I totally call maid-of-honor." Laughing, Maria replied,

"I said someday! Definitely not anytime soon! I'm still only 18 and we've only been actually dating for a little while."

"Yeah, but you've been dancing around each other for a while longer. Still, I can see why you want to wait, so moving on…"

"Right, well after that weekend we haven't really had any couple time. See, Remus' birthday was on a Monday, so we decided to spend the weekend before celebrating it. We spent most of the weekend with him and the rest of the family. The next two weekends after that I had to stay on campus. Then finally, the last weekend in March was when we celebrated my Dad's birthday. It was pretty similar to what happened on Moony's birthday weekend. Then, like you already know, I stayed on campus this past weekend and pretty much spent the entire time practicing with the team. So, now that you're all caught up with the facts, and won't have to read the Prophet to find out…"

"Hey, hold on, I just realized; your two-month anniversary is coming up in just a couple of days! Did you plan anything special?" Maria gave her best friend a beatific smile and the two leaned together to discuss Maria's plans in secretive whispers,

"So, first, I'm going to convince Sirius to take me out shopping. And you know how Sirius' father, Orion adores me? Since I'm a Slytherin and I'm a proper heir to the Potter family and I behave like a distinguished pure-blood even though I'm not one and all that stuff. Well, now that Sirius and I are dating he's all completely happy with Sirius too. He's going to come by and 'run' into us while we're getting ice cream at Fortescue's. At the same time, I convinced Mum, Dad, Remus, and Peter to show up there too. So basically all of them are going to distract Sirius and I will sneak back off to Siri's apartment…and cook his favorite meal! Plus, I'm going to get his apartment all dolled up for...after dinner. You know what I mean, right?"

"Yeah I do! But cooking? Really? I thought you hated cooking!"

"I do, but Sirius loves my cooking. So, I figure since it's a special occasion, I'll cook for him anyways."

"Aw that's so sweet! How come you get to decide how to spend the day? I always thought Sirius was the alpha male type and he'd want to be all in charge."

"Oh he is such an alpha male!" Maria rolled her eyes, and continued, "Actually, we kept arguing over which one of us would get to plan how to spend the weekend. Then we finally decided I get to pick how we spend Saturday and he gets to pick how we spend Sunday. I think he'll like my plan. Course if he doesn't, well since he gets to choose how we spend Sunday he can decide what to do the second half of our weekend."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AN: Phew, looong chapter, over 5000 words! Thanks to Vellouette for pointing out my little Tracey/Daphne mistake! It's fixed now! Also, I put up a few drabbles that tie into the story, so please check those out! Course, I'm still in search of a beta to look over my stories! So if any of you could beta or know someone who could beta, please let me know. And as always, review after you read please! Let me know what you think.


	5. Lingerie

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> How Maria convinced Sirius to take her shopping...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: I don't own anything. I also don't make a profit off of anything.

 

Prompt:  **Lingerie**

Word Count: 138

* * *

"Please Sirius!"

"No."

"But..." Maria pouted prettily at her boyfriend trying to coerce him into taking her shopping.

"No."

"I'll love you forever!"

"You already love me forever." His voice was dry and he didn't even bother to look up at her pleading expression.

"Mmm. Siiiirrrius." She gave him a seductive smile and reached for the buttons of his robes. "If you come with me, I'll love you in that pretty little red thing you like." She straddled his lap and smiled, as he looked up, suddenly interested.

"Um, what?" Maria gave him a wicked little smile and ground against him.

"You remember...the little red thing? From that muggle store you love so much, Victoria's Secret?"

"Oh. OH. That red thing." Silence. Then, he cleared his throat and asked, "So, uh, where are we going then?" Maria smiled.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Read & Review please!


	6. Dropped

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Orion Black agreed to help distract Sirius…this is how he does it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: I don't own anything you recognize. Also, I don't make any money off of anything.

Prompt: Dropped

Word Count: 255 words

* * *

"Where do you think Sirius got his sense of humor from?" Lord Orion Black responded with a smirk.

Maria took a bite of her sundae, shrugged, and replied, "I just always figured he'd been dropped on his head as a baby…a lot."

"Yes, well, that as well," was the sheepish response, "however  **I**  only dropped him a few times…pure accident, of course…mostly it was Walburga…on purpose, to build character…" Orion grinned around his ice cream sundae before lowering his voice and finishing his sentence, "well, except for a few times when she was simply drunk."

"YOU DROPPED ME! ON PURPOSE?" Lily turned her face into James' shoulder, in a fruitless attempt to muffle her snickers. The other three Marauders didn't even try to hide and simply pointed and laughed at the ticked off and horrified canine animagus.

"No, Sirius, why can't you ever listen?  **Walburga**  dropped you on purpose. I dropped you **accidentally**. It's a big difference." Orion's words and the winning smile he flashed his oldest son did not appear to calm Sirius down, and the smile quickly faded. Orion swallowed, demurely placed his sundae down on the table, and turned back to Maria.

"I must say Maria, it has been lovely meeting with you. I do hope we can do this again sometime, unfortunately I really must be getting back to work." Before Maria could respond, Orion had apparated away. Just in time too, as Sirius had his wand out and looked to be deciding exactly which hexes to use against his father.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As always, read and review, please!


	7. Dates and Exams, part one

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Warning: This chapter shows why I rated the story M! So, if you aren't old enough, or if you are old enough but can't handle slightly adult content…don't read it! Also, this is my first time writing anything like this…so if it sucks…uh that would be why. The naughtiness isn't until around the end of the chapter so you could probably read the beginning and then skip the very end…if you wanted.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: I don't own anything that is recognizable. I also make no profit off of anything.
> 
> Important A/N: I would recommend you go and read One Wish: Lingerie, then One Wish: Dropped before reading this chapter. Both are up – just look under my profile. Otherwise you might be confused about what happened in between chapter three and the second part of this chapter.

 

**One Wish:**

**Chapter 4: Dates and Exams, part one**

Once, during a Daily Prophet interview, Betty Braithwaite asked Maria which parent she was most like. Maria's answer was, unsurprisingly, James, her daddy. As she told the reporter, she had always been much closer to her father than to her mother. Their father-daughter bond began at a young age; when Maria was two her father gave into her pleading, snuck her out to their backyard Quidditch pitch, and taught her how to fly and play Quidditch. Lily was furious when she found out, but the early lessons had a life-changing effect. At the age of two, Maria already knew what she wanted to be when she grew up – she was going to be the best Quidditch player in the world, no matter what. James and Maria's bond only grew from that point, helped along by the fact that they shared many traits in common. Along with their passion for Quidditch, both also shared an optimistic, cheerful approach to life, a secret, well-hidden love of reading, more arrogance than any being in existence had a right to, and a childish passion when it came to holding grudges. Intrigued, the reporter then asked Maria which parent she turned to when she wanted advice or had a problem. The answer, once again, was James. Only when James himself sent her to ask Lily did Maria turn to her mother for advice. This was the pattern, the accepted norm in her life – right until Maria turned fourteen.

When Maria turned fourteen she began to notice something that, to her father's delight, she had always ignored before.  **Boys**  – and how very  _fascinating_  they could be. Maria's interest in boys truly came about because of the events of her fourth year. Until then, Maria had only seen the boys she spent her childhood with as friends or surrogate brothers. While other girls fancied the boys around her, Maria, being a stereotypical tomboy, was too busy scrapping about with her best friends. So, when Maria finally started to notice the boys around her, she turned to her Mum for advice, instead of her Daddy – for the first time in her life.

Despite Maria's confusion, asking her Mum for advice – since they weren't at all close – was something Maria tried her best to avoid. She wasn't completely clueless – after all, Daphne and Tracey were two of her closest friends, and both were completely boy-crazy. Plus, she spent much of her childhood surrounded by boys of all ages. This gave her a bit of an advantage when it came to figuring out the oddities of the male race. She had seen, firsthand, most of the Weasley brothers and their 'dealings' with the many girls who fancied them - especially Charlie Weasley, who was well known as the most fanciable boy around.

Then, in her fourth year, she'd been chosen as one of the Champions in the Triwizard Tournament. Alongside the other three champions, she was required to open the dancing at the Yule Ball with her partner. Like all full blood children, Maria was raised in a pureblood manner, meaning she was taught – and expected to practice – all of the same customs as her traditional, pureblood family-members (in her case, the Potters). One such custom, in traditional, pureblood families, was to ensure all of the children learned to properly dance. She was, therefore, thoroughly calm and composed after learning she would be required to dance – it was one of the few 'ladylike' activities she actually enjoyed as a child.

The problem, which Maria came to dread, was the rest of it – the dressing up and having a date part of the Yule Ball. She was a tomboy; she was quite happy as a tomboy. While Daphne and Tracey argued over fall colors versus summer colors, Maria was busy reading up on the latest results from the Quidditch Leagues. In fact, to Daphne and Tracey's eternal horror, Maria was too lazy to bother with the glamour charms and makeup potions other witches used daily. Even worse, Maria never even bothered to learn any of the standard make-up charms! Instead, her only  _vices_ , on extremely rare occasions, were Muggle eye and lip makeup – a direct result of the nights spent with her Muggle grandmother as a young girl. Other than her few 'vices' Maria didn't act like most girls her age. She rarely dressed up; Maria always picked comfort over fashion – Muggle shoes, her one exception to the rule. This of course meant that unlike Daphne and Tracey she was rarely fancied by the boys. The boys who were interested in her were always Quidditch players attracted to her because of her Quidditch prowess. They understood her priorities and she understood theirs…

It made sense then, that the young man who asked her to the Yule Ball was also a Quidditch player. Maria was actually quite happy to go with him, despite his rather rough appearance, because she honestly admired (and was a bit jealous of) his seeking skills. As a bonus, he was even more of a celebrity than her, thus ensuring neither would have to deal with any annoying fan-boys or fan-girls – part of the reason he had asked her and not another, prettier girl. All in all, after being asked (and accepting the invitation) Maria was quite pleased and relaxed. Of course, Daphne and Tracey were quick to ruin her blissful ignorance. They began by pestering her about her dress robes – the color, the cut; even the fabric became an important issue.

"Of course this is all important!" Daphne had furiously snapped. "What if you wear last season's fashions? You'll never live it down!"

Then they began to pester her about her date's robes – and they were utterly horrified after learning Maria hadn't even bothered to find out what color he was wearing.

"But what if you clash!" Tracey had screeched in dismay. Both Daphne and Tracey had fallen silent in mute horror when Maria innocently asked if it was okay to wear beige dress robes.

They finally managed to work Maria up into such a frenzy that she actually panicked and owled her Mum for advice. Lily, knowing her daughter's friends quite well, waited patiently for the frantic letter she was expecting to arrive any moment…

* * *

**Saturday, December 19, 1997**

**Godric's Hollow**

"We're Marauders, Lily darling. Pranking is to Marauders what blood is to vampires! We need pranks to live. Do you want James to die? Do you want to become a widow before your time? Doomed to aimlessly roam the earth, lonely and unhappy for all of your days!" Sirius passionately argued in defense of his and James' love of pranks. "Is that what you want? Don't you think that-"

Rolling her eyes, Lily interrupted Sirius before he could build up any more steam. "You want to know what I think, Sirius? Well, I think you need to read something beside that Muggle Lord of the Rings series. And please stop comparing me to Arwen – 'high elves' are nothing more than a Muggle fairytale."

"Yes I know they aren't real, but if they were…you would definitely be Arwen. James agrees with me, right James?"

"Yeah. I think it's your hair – you have very high-elvish hair, Lils."

"First of all, please for the love of magic, stop calling me Lils. You know I hate that nickname! Second, 'high-elvish' is not a word – stop making up random, fake words! And third, you do not need pranks to live."

"You're insane Lily. Of course we need pranks. It's a fact of life. The grass is green, the sky is blue, and the Marauders will prank. Look, we leave Snivellus alone, on your behalf, but to stop pranking altogether? Not even James loves you that much!"

James nodded his agreement while adding in his own fanatical speeches, "No, love, you don't understand! It's a crime against nature! You can't make us swear off pranks! That's…That's BLASHAMFEY!"

"It's blasphemy, James." Exasperated, Lily corrected her barmy husband.

James' eyes lit up and he turned to Sirius, "See Padfoot? Lily does understand!"

Sirius smirked at James and retorted, "No, actually, I think she was correct-"

TAP TAP TAP

James and Sirius paused in their discussion and turned to face the large bay windows. Perched on the outside sill was a disheveled, irritated snowy owl. Lily stood up from the couch, walked over to the windows, and opened one window – allowing the exhausted owl in. Smiling, Lily detached and untied a small bit of parchment from Hedwig's leg. Carefully, she unrolled the short note,

_Mum, I'm going to the Ball with Viktor Krum._

_HELP!_

_P.S. Don't tell Dad. Or Sirius. Or anyone else, for that matter._

_P.P.S. Actually, just burn this after you read it._

_P.P.P.S. REMEMBER! **DON'T TELL DAD OR SIRIUS!**  I will be extremely upset if my date ends up dead and buried in a ditch somewhere…_

Grinning, Lily followed her daughter's directions and set fire to the parchment.

"Lily! What's with all the secrecy?" Sirius tried to read the parchment over her shoulder but Lily didn't let him see it properly.

"Yeah love, what is with all the secrecy? What did Maria say – that was a note from her, right?"

"Yes it was from our darling daughter. It's just some girl stuff, James. I'm sure you don't really want to know." James paled at the mention of 'girl stuff' and nodded his agreement. "Actually James, Maria needs to go shopping for some…feminine…products. It's a Hogsmeade weekend so I'm going to head over and join her in her shopping. Would you like to accompany me?"

Horrified, James replied, "Feminine products? Uh, you know…I have a lot of, um, paperwork and reports, yeah, reports, and I should work on those." He nodded, pleased with his excuse, and then brightly suggested, "maybe some other time? Anyways, you should go, don't want to be late, yeah?" With a creepy, wide, fake smile on his face, James proceeded to push his wife to the fireplace. Laughing, Lily let him practically shove her through the floo.

**Hogsmeade Village/Hogwarts**

Still laughing, Lily stepped out through the fireplace in the Three Broomsticks. She stopped and exchanged greetings with Madame Rosmerta, before making her way up to Hogwarts. As she slowly walked up the path, Lily happily gazed over the Hogwarts grounds, where she learned so much about the Magical world she loved. Lost in her reminiscing, Lily didn't notice the similarly preoccupied, young girl walking toward her.

"Ooof!" Lily walked into the girl and fell to the ground. She looked over at the other person, who had also fallen and asked, "Are you okay? I'm really sorry, I wasn't paying attention where I was walking!"

The other girl, who seemed to be a Hogwarts' student, likely a fourth or fifth year, looked over at Lily and replied, "It's okay, I wasn't watching where I was going either. I'm fine, but are you okay?"

"Yes, I'm fine." Lily climbed to her feet and helped the brunette up. "I'm Lily Potter, by the way, and you are?"

The bushy-haired, young girl seemed startled by Lily's name, but then she smiled and replied, "It's nice to meet you Mrs. Potter, I'm Hermione Granger." A slight frown appeared on Hermione's face, as she continued, "Your daughter and I were in the same year, until she was moved up to fifth year instead of fourth."

"Yes, of course. I've heard quite a bit about you."

With a slightly bitter expression, Hermione quietly replied, "All bad, I'm sure."

Lily laughed slightly, "You seem to be well-acquainted with my daughter – she is an expert at holding grudges. I'm afraid she gets it from her father. Actually, I heard quite a bit about you from Minerva McGonagall. She's a good friend of mine – says you are one of the most talented students in the school." Blushing, Hermione ducked her head and didn't reply to the compliment.

Lily smiled and changed the subject, "So, tell me Hermione, are you excited for the Yule Ball?"

Hermione broke into a brilliant smile and happily answered, "Oh, very much!

"Have you bought your dress robes yet?"

Hermione's expression became very nervous and unsure, as she replied, "No, actually I was heading down to Hogsmeade to get them today. I bought dress robes before term started since they were on the list, but now I need different ones. The ones I already have are light red, but my date, his robes are green…"

"Mm, and you don't want to look like a Christmas decoration?"

"Yes, exactly. By the way, if you don't mind me asking, what are you doing here?"

"Oh, well Maria needs different robes as well. I came down to help her pick out proper dress robes for the Ball. She's a bit clueless when it comes to 'girly-things.' It'll be nice to have some mother-daughter bonding time, she's much closer to her father, so these moments are pretty rare – I take what I can get." Lily gave a speculative look at Hermione, who seemed slightly overwhelmed by the thought of robe shopping. "Actually, why don't you join us?"

"Oh! I don't know. I don't want to intrude, plus Maria and I don't really get along, so it's probably not a good idea."

"Nonsense. I'm sure you two will be able to get along for one afternoon! Besides, it will be nice for both of you to get the opinion of someone your own age when you're trying on the robes!"

Hermione clearly wanted to come because she didn't put up much more of a protest. "Um, well, I guess, if Maria's fine with it."

Smirking, Lily simply replied, "Don't worry, she will be."

"Thanks for inviting me, then! I was actually really nervous, because I don't really know what to buy. My other robes, my mum and Madame Malkin picked them out – I really don't know what looks good."

"It's not a problem for me, dear. I love robe shopping!" Smiling, Lily continued, "So, while we wait, how are you adjusting to Hogwarts and the magical world? I remember I had a hard time until my fourth year – that's when I finally started getting used to the culture and the atmosphere. It's all just so different from the Muggle world."

Hermione shrugged and replied, "Honestly, I never fit in all that well in the Muggle world. Finding out about magic and everything was a relief. There are a few things that bother me about the Magical world, but I like it a lot better than the Muggle world."

Lily nodded in agreement and asked, "Mm, yes, the magical world is more home than the Muggle world ever was. But what still bothers you about it?"

"Well, the pureblood/Muggle-born divide for one. Plus, there are a few other things that bother me, Mrs. Potter…"

"Call me Lily, dear."

"Alright. Well, actually Ms. P-Lily, I was wondering, since you're Muggle-born, could you explain – about the house-elves. Aren't they really just brainwashed slaves? Why else would they not fight for their rights?" Lily raised an eyebrow and gave Hermione a shrewd glance.

"I thought you already had this conversation with my daughter and her friends?" Hermione blushed and replied,

"Uh, well…Maria's not Muggle-born, so I don't think she really understands why slavery is such a bad thing. I mean, I'm sure you've explained it to her…but she doesn't really understand Muggle culture and –"

"Just like how you don't understand Magical culture?"

"What? I understand Magical culture…"

Lily smiled and explained, "You've already heard the pureblood/full-blood view from my daughter so I won't repeat the entire thing, but my view is, in fact, very similar. The origins of the house-elves and the reasons for their original enslavement are valid. I was very much like you when I was a student at Hogwarts, my husband and I – before we started dating – actually had a very similar argument to the one you had with Maria and her friends. I asked around and did a great deal of research to find out if what he was saying was fact or propaganda. But it was hard to find any unbiased information – then James actually forced me to go to the kitchens and talk to the house-elves. They said much of the same things that James and the other purebloods believed."

Hermione looked slightly betrayed as she replied, "So, you don't see any problem at all?"

Lily shook her head, "Mostly I agree with my daughter and husband. However, I also agree with you that more needs to be done to end the enslavement. Most of the purebloods believe that other things are more important than this issue and many, also, simply don't want to lose their servants. Since they don't give priority to the house-elves, nothing is really being done to find a cure to the problem of unstable magic. I, personally, think that more priority needs to be given to researching the house-elves. Right now, very little government funding goes into curing the problems of non-humans or part-humans. That is slowly changing, but it's changing too slowly. I believe that if those in power really wanted to, they could find the cure to the house-elves problem much faster than they will at the current rate."

Hermione still seemed uncertain, but she was much more accepting of Lily's words than she had been Maria's. "It's hard to accept that she's right and I'm wrong."

Lily smiled and gently corrected, "One lesson I had a difficult time accepting when I was younger was that I'm not always right. It's a lesson both you and Maria still need to learn. You aren't always right, Hermione. But neither is my daughter. Both of you are a little right and a little wrong on this issue and many others. I think the best way to help the house-elves, and other minority groups, like the werewolves, is for people like Maria and you to work together to solve the problems."

"I guess." Before Hermione could say anything further, Maria came bounding up to them.

"Mum! You're early; I thought you wouldn't be here for at least another hour."

"Yes, well, when I suggested your father come along and help us buy some feminine products…he seemed very eager for me to be gone."

"Feminine…" Maria trailed off into laughter, but her laughter and smile both faded, as she realized that Granger hadn't left. "Thanks for keeping my Mum company, Granger, but you can go now." Hermione looked uncertainly between Maria and Lily, but stayed silent.

"Actually, dear, I invited Hermione to accompany us. She needs new dress robes, also, and I thought it would be nice for both of you to get the opinion of someone your own age." Maria frowned, upset, but before she could launch into a laundry list of all the reasons why Lily's idea was a bad one, her Mum firmly continued, "Now, we need to hurry up and get going, I'm sure you two aren't the only ones needing dress robes. I'm sure you two don't want to get stuck with some horrible, ugly ones because you were too busy arguing, correct?" Both girls nodded and the group made their way to Hogsmeade and the many shops in it.

**Gladrags Wizardwear - Hogsmeade Branch**

Stunned, Maria and Hermione stared in confusion at the multitude of robes surrounding them. Lily smiled, amused by their awed shock, then she asked, "Do either of you have any color preferences?"

Maria spoke up first, "Uh, well Tracey and Daphne said it was important that Viktor's wearing dark red robes."

Surprised by who Maria's date was, Hermione suddenly burst out, "Viktor? You're going with Viktor Krum!"

Frowning at the interruption, Maria retorted, "Yes. Why do you care? Who are you going with?"

"Maria! There's no need to be rude, apologize!"

Sulkily, Maria apologized. Hermione, sheepish at having caused an argument on what was supposed to be a rare, mother-daughter bonding experience, replied, "It's okay. Actually, I was just surprised since he's technically a rival champion. But then, I guess you two must have a lot in common, because of Quidditch and all. I'm going with Roger Davies, he's a big fan of Krum."

Maria raised an eyebrow, "You're going with Roger? Really? I'm impressed – Fleur told me she considered going with Roger, but Cedric asked her and she's going with him instead. And I know Viktor's supposed to be a rival champion, but he's an amazing seeker! The Tournament's going to be over soon…but I want to pick up some tips on playing with the pro's from him."

Lily smiled as Hermione and Maria calmly had an amiable conversation, with none of their usual insults and arguments.

"Yeah, I guess you're right. I heard that you got invited to play in the Spring Leagues? I read in Quidditch Through The Ages, it's really rare for someone so young to be invited."

"Yeah, but then I'm the youngest seeker in a century and everything…so…"

"It must be nice to already know what you're going to be doing. I'm completely clueless about what I should do after I graduate."

"Well, you still have a lot of time, so I wouldn't worry. Next year, your Head of House will actually go over all your options with you. That's when a lot of people actually figure out what they want to do. It's pretty rare to already know what field you want to go into – most people put off all the decisions until fifth year, anyways." Maria reassured Hermione, then realized that neither one of them had managed to even begin their robe shopping. "Um, moving on, do you know what color Roger's going to wear? Supposedly it's really important."

"Yeah, Roger is planning to wear light green robes. I actually read this book, which talked all about how everyone's divided into seasons and certain seasons go with certain colors…"

Seeing that the conversation had finally shifted to the dress robes, Lily chimed in, "I've read that book too. Actually, the season thing would probably work pretty well for both of you. Correct me if I'm wrong, Hermione, but I believe you would be considered a spring? And Maria would be considered a winter, right?"

Maria looked confused but Hermione nodded her agreement. "Yeah, that's right, I think." She saw Maria's confusion and further explained, "Since I'm a spring, I'm not really supposed to wear black or other dark colors, because there's too much contrast with my skin color. I would look washed out in those colors."

"Alright, well, how about me, Mum you said I'm a winter – what am I supposed to avoid?"

Lily spoke up in answer to Maria's question, "You're a winter, so you can actually wear darker, richer colors. Jewel tones – like Ruby red, Sapphire blue, and Emerald green – will look really good on you. But you can't wear very light, pale colors like rose, mauve, beige, and many pastels. In those colors, you tend to look ashen and sallow. Hermione, since Roger is wearing light green and you can pull off light colors, I would suggest you look for a robe that is pale or light blue. Maria, since Viktor's robes are dark red, you should probably look for either deep blues or maybe an ivory with dark blue trim and accents."

Both girls proceeded to try on numerous robes, just when both were about ready to give up, Lily handed Maria an ivory, silk dress robe with sapphire trim and embroidery. The buttons of her robes and the matching shoes were silver. When Maria stepped out of the changing room, Hermione and Lily both gasped in awe, the robes complemented Maria extremely well. "You look beautiful, sweetheart!"

"Thanks, Mum. I really like these, they're actually really comfortable!" Maria grinned in response to her Mum's exasperated groan.

"Thank Merlin, the comfortable robes actually look good this time!" Confused, Hermione asked what the problem was and Lily replied, "Maria always picks whatever's comfortable. The dress robes she bought in Diagon, before the school year started, were a sort of beige/taupe mix, and a horrible shade as well – she looked like a scorched marshmallow."

"I did not! And those are really great robes! They're all soft…and comfy!" Lily simply rolled her eyes in response, and then motioned for Hermione to try on the periwinkle robes Lily picked up for her. Hermione stepped into a changing room and quickly tried them on. Instead of coming out, she spoke from inside the changing room, "I really like these. I am definitely buying them."

Curious, Maria responded, "Well, at least let us see how you look!" Hermione stepped out, wearing shimmery, airy periwinkle dress robes. Her shoes were golden, just like the embroidery, buttons, and other accents on her robes. "Woow, you have to buy those! But, your hair…" Maria trailed off, and unsure what to say she turned to her Mum.

"Mmm…I think after we buy the robes for you two, we need to head off to the beauty parlor. They'll be able to give you some Sleekeazy's Hair Potion, Hermione. It's a wonderful creation. Your hair will look very nice when it's straightened; it's already a very nice golden brown, but it is a bit frizzy. As for you, Maria, I think your hair will look lovely curled. I'm sure Daphne and Tracey will be able to help you with that before the Ball." Both girls agreed and after making their robe and accessory purchases the three set out for the beauty parlor.

After finishing up at the parlor and finishing up their days shopping, the two said goodbye to Lily and returned to Hogwarts. On their way back to their separate common rooms, Maria looked over at Hermione and frowned, "This doesn't mean I like you or anything."

Hermione scoffed back, "Yeah. This doesn't mean we're friends…I still hate you, because you're so arrogant and spiteful!"

Sneering, Maria glared right back and retorted, "I hate you more - because you're a know-it-all bitch!"

"So! It's not like I care what you think!"

"Yeah! I don't care about you either!"

"Fine!"

"Fine!" Both girls glared at each other again, then flounced off to their respective dorms.

Despite the less than amicable end to their shopping trip, Maria and Hermione both ended up having a wonderful time at the Yule Ball. In fact, because of Roger's position as the Ravenclaw Quidditch team's captain, Hermione and Maria ended up being seated at the same table whenever they weren't dancing. Just like in their shopping trip, during the ball they managed to bury their animosity toward each other and everyone managed to have a lovely time.

Having survived and actually enjoyed the Yule Ball, Maria happily proceeded to date quite a few Quidditch players – to James' eternal horror – in the time after her brief relationship with Viktor ended. Although most of her relationships were short – she usually came to view her boyfriends as friends after a month or two – they greatly increased her girlish tendencies. Whereas before Maria was completely clueless regarding fashion, by the time she began dating Sirius she was no longer oblivious – rather she made a conscious choice to ignore fashion for her beloved comfort. However, for special occasions, Maria knew exactly how to emphasize her best qualities and minimize her worst flaws. She – happily – didn't need to turn to her mum for advice anymore. Instead she tended to discuss her dates and 'boy-issues' with her friends, specifically Tracey and Daphne. She was also much more interested and proactive in the entire 'dating game'.

In fact, it was actually Maria's idea to celebrate the fact that she and Sirius survived their ordeal with the death eaters. That they also managed to build a healthy relationship out of the entire incident was a happy bonus. She managed to convince Sirius to take time off from his Auror duties and instead spend the weekend celebrating with her. After a great deal of arguing the two decided Maria would plan how to spend Saturday and Sirius would get to plan how to spend Sunday.

* * *

**Saturday, April 10, 1997**

**Sirius Black's Apartment**

Maria snuck into her boyfriend's apartment after having successfully distracted him in Diagon with the help of his father and friends. Dobby, Winky, and Kreacher popped in with the pans she asked them to retrieve and the ingredients she asked them to buy. Smiling, she told Dobby, Winky, and Kreacher where to place all of the items.

"Mistress yous is sure yous is not being wanting Winky's help? Winky is being a good cook!"

"I know you are Winky, but I want to do this for Sirius." Grateful for their help, she gently shooed the house elves away and began to prepare the meal she has planned for her boyfriend. Maria worked diligently and efficiently – within a few hours she was putting the finishing touches on the meal. In the midst of the cooking she also managed to dress up both the table and herself. Her outfit, in particular, was guaranteed to impress her older boyfriend. She heard the lock turning and quickly finished getting everything ready for her surprise.

THUD

Sirius dropped the numerous bags in his hands as came through the doorway of his apartment. He stretched, rubbing his neck, and then called out, "Maria?"

"I'm in the kitchen," his girlfriend replied. Kicking his shoes off, he slowly pushed the bags out of the way and turned to lock the door.

"You know darling, that stunt you pulled in Diagon was kind of mean. Getting James and the other's to distract me while you snuck off! It's supposed to be  **our**  weekend together and you left me behind! I had to hang out with Lily and the other Marauders, and they all kept smirking at me." Grinning, he turned back around and his eyes went wide as he realized just why Maria abandoned him in Diagon. His eyes slowly traveled up, then down, then back up as Maria smiled coyly. She wore dark-red Muggle stilettos, while the rest of her legs were completely bare – other than a single platinum anklet Sirius once gave her. Sirius bought Maria a matching earring, bracelet, and necklace set for Christmas years before and she wore the entire set as well. She was dressed in a skimpy, maroon babydoll with spaghetti straps; the lacey scrap of clothing barely brushing her upper thigh. Her hair was up-swept, bar a few strands that had drifted down to frame her face.

Sirius finally managed to bring his eyes up to her face and away from her body. Still, he could only gape as he focused first on her eyes, which were outlined with black eyeliner. Her long lashes were made fuller with mascara and her green eyes, smoky and exotic with eye shadow. Sirius' gaze drifted down to her mouth and he stared helplessly, as she gently bit her bottom lip. Her lips looked wet because of the sheer lip-gloss she'd applied when she heard him walk through the door – Sirius couldn't decide what part of Maria to stare at. Smirking, Maria interrupted his blatant ogling, "If you don't like it, I could always change into something…less revealing?"

"NO! I mean, uh no. Please! I like this. A lot. I mean, don't change. This is good. This is uh…very, very good. Don't change! Please. Really!" Laughing, Maria turned and began to saunter back into the kitchen.

Like a little boy who had just lost his favorite toy, Sirius plaintively asked, "Wait, why are you leaving?"

"Honestly, Sirius, why do you think I'm holding a spatula? Why do you think I was in the kitchen when you came in? I'm cooking! And the Muggle way too!" Pouting, she continued, "I thought you liked my cooking?"

"I do! I really do, but…" rather than finishing the sentence Sirius decided to demonstrate. He slowly backed her up against the side of the couch, then wrapped one hand around her right leg and placed the other on the side of her face. She gasped as his calloused palm slowly slid up her sensitive thigh, bunching the silky, maroon negligee around her hips. He bent Maria back against the arm of the couch and slowly kissed her. Sirius gently brushed his lips against hers, then sucked on her lower lip and laid wispy kisses across her jaw line. He trailed soft kisses down Maria's neck as she whined, and sucked hard at the hollow of her throat. Growling, she finally grabbed his face between her hands and pulled him back up for a deep, smoldering kiss. Sirius' hand finally inched up to the straps on Maria's babydoll and he eagerly began to undo the ties keeping it on her. Maria whimpered from the combination of Sirius' touches and kisses, before bringing her hands down to rest flat on his chest. She collected every bit of willpower she possessed and pushed him away.

"Wha-Maria? What's wrong?" Maria licked her lips, and backed away when Sirius went to gather her in his arms once more.

"I-" She swallowed hard then, "Dinner first. Dessert second." Sirius smiled slyly at her and pulled her forward, pressing every inch of her front against his.

"But I  **like**  dessert. A lot. In fact, I love dessert." Maria grinned up at him and replied,

"Mmm. I know you do. I love dessert too. But the waiting, makes it" she kissed him once, "so," a second time, "much," then finally, "better." Whining, Sirius went to kiss her again, but Maria had already slipped out of his arms and headed into the kitchen. She turned and leered back at him, "Aren't you coming?"

He sighed and followed her, "Oh just wait until tomorrow, you tease! It'll be my turn to decide how to spend it, darling, and then we'll see who has to wait forever for dessert!"

Laughing, Maria replied, "Forever? More like until your patience runs out…and I'm much more patient then you are!"

Sirius merely smirked at her, "Yeah, sure you are. Anyhow, what's for dinner, since we aren't allowed dessert until after?"

Giggling at his pout, she replied, "Remember when you told me you rented a room from an Indian witch, after you left Hogwarts, until you could buy your own place? Well, you said she used to make you curry and I know you really missed Indian food…so…"

"You made curry?"

"Yes, so was it a good choice?"

"Absolutely." Sirius responded, before pausing and turning to ask, "you cooked the Muggle way, I hope…"

Maria reddened, but nodded, "Uh yeah, I figured having the apartment burn down because I tried to cook using my wand would be a bad thing." Sirius snorted in agreement and both of them sat down to eat.

"I don't really get it; you can cook well the Muggle way. But when it comes to cooking with magic, you're even worse then Lily! Didn't you burn the water the last time you tried to use magic to make Spag Bol?"

"Um, technically yes. Anyways, moving on!"

Sirius laughed and reached for the Naan bread, and glanced around the table set for two, "So besides the Chicken Madras, you made dahl, pilau rice, sag aloo, and mattar paneer?"

"Yep, and there's also lime pickle and mango chutney! I know you like the food spicy but if it's too spicy try mixing in some of the raita."

"No, this is perfect." In between bites of their dinner the two traded stories, both becoming utterly relaxed and content.

Sirius sighed and leaned back, letting his eyes drift closed. He heard Maria get up and began to rummage about the kitchen. "What are you doing?"

"Getting dessert!"  
"Oh. I see." Smiling, he opened his eyes and asked, "So, what is it?" A half-smile on her face she pulled her hands forward from behind her back. In one hand she held a bottle of champagne, in the other, a bowl full of chocolate ice cream.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AN: So...this chapter was getting to be waaay too long. It's broken into two parts, as of right now, but that could change to 3... Anyways, I hope you liked it so far, and please review and let me know what you thought!


	8. Rome

**023\. Rome**

Coughing harshly, a fit, older man and a much younger woman stumbled out of a crowded pub.

Laughing, the woman turned to her companion and smirking, asked, "Wow. So, I'm guessing we're in the Lazio side of town and not the Roma part?"

Struggling to catch his breath, the dark-haired man pointed harshly at the green-eyed woman, "You! Holy crap. Maria, what is wrong with you? We barely escaped with our lives just now! Hell, if we weren't magical we'd have been stabbed and gutted in there! I cannot believe you wore your Roma shirt into there!"

"Aww, but Sirius, you were so cute trying to beat up those guys who tried to touch me!"

Open-mouthed, Sirius just stared. Then, "You've gone round the bend, woman. I don't know why I put up with you."

"Aw baby, don't stress. I'm gorgeous. And very flexible. And I  **always**  love to experiment, remember?" With each 'and', Maria moved closer and closer, until she was pressed right up against her lover. "Besides, I thought you loved it when I act like a  _nasty,_  little tart.

A sigh. "Yeahhh."

Maria snickered and poked him in the stomach, then at the subsequent pout, cajoled, "I thought you were going to take me to see the Colosseum? And the Trevi Fountain? And Vatican City?"

"Wow. You really are into this whole tourist-y, muggle-style, Italy vacation, yeah?" Raising an eyebrow, Sirius asked in amusement.

Practically bouncing on her toes, Maria licked her way up his neck to his ear, whispering her plans for the rest of their vacation in Sirius' ear.

Swallowing hard, Sirius turned her so that she was trapped between the brick wall and his own hard body. Taking her hands in his and holding them above her body, he ground into her and quickly apparated both of them directly to the cottage they were staying at. Arriving at the lake-side cottage, it took Sirius mere seconds to have Maria flat on the giant bed as he rapidly stripped off her clothes, accompanied by the soundtrack of her laughter.

**Author's Note:**

> Please Review!


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